


Eternity's Darkness

by Cloudyerd11



Category: Original Work
Genre: Attacks, Demonic Possession, F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Mind Manipulation, More tags to be added, Psychological Torture, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 08:14:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23348272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudyerd11/pseuds/Cloudyerd11
Summary: It wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was. Cory and Natalie weren't supposed to get kidnapped after their yearbook meeting while saving a friend from three attackers. They weren't supposed to be thrown into a cell encased with darkness as a dark spirit attacked them. And Cory certainly wasn't supposed to watch his friend die at the hands of the spirit while protecting him.Now weeks have gone by and nothing has returned to normal. A dark cloud hovers over the spot in the yearbook room where their bright yearbook editor once was, and no one knows what to do. But no one is as grief-stricken as Cory.That is until another dark spirit returns to the yearbook room unannounced, determined to take what has been denied to her mortal soul for years...
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	1. Chapter 1

“Alright you guys,” said Ms. Fry, standing up at her desk and pausing the music coming from the overhead speaker. “Thank you all so much for coming to the work night tonight. We got so much stuff done, there’s no way we won’t be meeting our deadline on Friday.”

Natalie smiled as she turned back to her computer, listening to the few cheers that went around the room and the multiple sighs of relief at the fact that the long work night was over.

“Finally,” said Noah behind her, standing up from his spot on the floor where he had been sitting for almost an hour now. “I was honestly beginning to think it would never fucking end.”

“Well congratulations,” Natalie said, turning around to face him. “You successfully survived your first Yearbook late-nighters.”

“Jesus it’s almost eleven-thirty! You guys do this every work night?”

“Almost. It’s mostly us editors though.”

“What’s wrong?” Asks Cory, butting into the conversation as he approaches. “Not man enough to be up so late?”

“You know what…”

Natalie rolls her eyes as Cory and Noah get into another friendly wrestling match for the eight time today. By the time she saves her work and logs off her computer, Cory has Noah in a head lock and is holding him against the wall.

“Alright, that’s enough you two. Break it up.” Natalie stands up, spinning her hips to get her knee brace out from under the editor’s table. She steps between them, Cory letting up on his grip and Noah freeing himself.

The two boys stand facing each other, staring each other down while trying to keep goofy-but-serious expressions on their faces. But after a few seconds the two break out into smiles and punch each other in the shoulder before embracing in the popular “bro hug”.

As they pull away from each other, Natalie reaches up to give Noah a hug. “Drive home safe Noah. See you tomorrow.”

“Will do. Hey, up for Inta-juice for lunch?”

“Absolutely.”

“But I’m driving,” interjects Cory.

“Whatever.” Noah picks up his bag and begins to walk towards the door. “Catch you later Nerd.”

“See you tomorrow, dork,” Natalie responds. As Noah leaves the room, Jaydon starts to walk out the door, waving over to where the two editors stand. Both wave back, spreading a smile across the future editor’s face.

“Thanks for coming Jaydon,” Natalie says.

“No problem.”

As the door closes, Natalie turns her attention back towards Cory.

“Is there any way you could give me a ride home?”

“I was already expecting you to ask that.” He slings his back pack over his shoulder and lifts hers up for her. “Let’s go, peg-leg.”

The two start to head out. Cory pauses at the door as Natalie hobbles over to Ms. Fry, giving her a hug goodbye. She also says goodbye to Ethan and Megan, who stand at the front of the classroom having a private discussion. The two fellow editors respond with nothing more than head nods, returning to their conversation.

Cory rolls his eyes at their response, holding the door open for Natalie and her almost full-leg knee brace.

“Wow, have some attitude,” says Cory the second the door closes.

“It’s fine. Nothing more than I normally get. I’m just happy they turned and acknowledged my existence this time.”

“Seriously? How are you not angry about that?”

“I’ve just learned to accept it. I mean, I know that they care, and I care about them, so I guess it just kind of creates some forgiveness you know?”

“You care way too much about slither people, peg-leg.”

“Hey, those two slither people are our fellow editors. Relax Cory-Fife.”

The two continue down the hall towards the elevator, exchanging insults and laughing at jokes the whole way down the hall.

“You know you’re getting around a lot better now,” comments Cory as they walk through the commons.”

“I know. It actually helps when you do your physical therapy. My doctor even thinks I might be ready for club tryouts at the end of May.”

“Wow, that’s right around the corner. But I know how much you miss being on the soccer field, so I’m rooting for you.”

“Thanks,” Natalie answers, the two teens walking through the north doors to the school, opening up into the student parking lot.

“How soon until you get the brace off?”

“Still about a month out, but not too bad. As long as I don’t do anything crazy, I should be fine…”

Natalie stops, lightly touching Cory’s shoulder to get him to pause as well. She turns her head towards the gym, where she thought she heard someone shout something.

“What’s up?”

“I thought I heard something.” She starts to move in the direction she was facing, slowly limping and approaching the dark corner that met the side of the gym.

“Natalie, you are in no condition for this. Let me check it out.”

“It’s okay for me to walk Cory, calm yourself.”

Cory stands there while he watches his over-caring friend get closer to the corner of the building. He was about to start walking towards his car when he heard a shot, followed by Natalie dropping her bag and disappearing out of sight around the corner.

“Natalie!” He shouts, also dropping his backpack and sprinting towards where his friend had disappeared.

He turned the corner to find Natalie rushing towards the far wall, where three shadowy figures held Jaydon against the brick. In the amount of time it took for him to get over there, Natalie had obtained a metal pole, which Cory guessed was from the pile leaning against the shed next to them.

Cory watches as Natalie’s “cop’s-kid” instincts kick in, driving the pole towards the figure right in front of Jaydon. The metal makes contact with the boy’s ribs, followed by a hit to back of his knee as Natalie reacts instantly. The boy drops to the ground, the two holding Jaydon turn their attention towards Natalie. They take a step forwards, but Cory, who joins Natalie, lunges towards the one on the right, taking him down. The one on the left ducks as Natalie once more swings the metal pole, but doesn’t react in time to avoid it when Natalie swings it back around towards his side.

While the attackers are occupied by pain and the one still trying to fight off Cory, Natalie steps over to help Jaydon off the ground.

“Are you alright?”

“Yea,” Jaydon answers shakily. “Yea, I’m fine.”

“Good. Go get help, okay?”

“What about you guys?”

“We got them, okay? Just go get Fry!”

Jaydon nods as he steps around the fight and hurries back towards the north door. But while Natalie watches Jaydon to make sure he gets around the corner safely, a pain shoots through her knee. She looks down to see the first attacker wrapping his hand around her knee, squeezing it until Natalie practically collapses to the ground. He then reaches forward with his other hand and wraps it around her neck, pinning her to the wall.

“Let go of the bar…” he hisses at her.

“Let me go.”

“Let go of the bar…”

He squeezes her knee even harder, sending another round of pain through her knee. Out of instinct, she drops the bar, the hand around her knee easing up a bit. But the bar falls straight into the hands of the third attacker, who instantly is on his feet and approaching the spot where Cory is practically sitting on top of the other.

Natalie watches as the attacker drives the bar straight into Cory’s side, sending the echo of a crack off the brick walls around them. The attacker then pushes Cory off his comrade, Cory falling to the ground and holding his rib cage in pain. The two attackers are almost instantly on top of him, pinning him to the ground and placing their hands over his face.

As Cory slowly begins to stop fighting, Natalie begins to struggle at the sight of Cory on the ground, only to be met with pain as her attacker squeezes her knee and her neck, slowly cutting off her airway as well.

“Aren’t these two of the ones we were looking for?” Asks one of the attackers over Cory. 

“Yes,” her attacker answers, continuing the pressure on her neck. “We’ll take these two and let  _ it _ decide which one it wants to take.”

Darkness and blurs began to cloud Natalie’s vision as the attackers escorted them to a light Grey SUV waiting behind the shed, unable to move as she was dropped onto the carpeted floor. Something smelling of chemicals was instantly pressed on her face, and by the time she felt the vehicle begin to move forward, darkness completely encased her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

There’s a throbbing. That’s all Cory can recognize. A throbbing, his blood pumping through his veins. He doesn’t quite know why, or how the throbbing had started. He just knew it was there.

Cory moves, trying to sit up, only to be met with pure pain. He forces himself to sit up completely, falling back against the cold wall behind him. He lets out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding in, the throbbing once again returning.

From his new position he can evaluate the room that he’s in… or at least, what he can see. His eyes aren’t adjusting to the darkness of the room very well. He can tell there's hard stone all around him. And it's  _ cold _ , colder than anything Cory has ever experienced…

“Who’s there?” Cory calls out to the dark space, pain running through his chest at the action. There was a noise. A faint noise, but a noise nonetheless.

He wasn’t alone.

“Cory?” A voice rings back, one that fills him with light and hope.

“Natalie? You’re here?”

“Yea,” she answers, her voice echoing from the other side of the space. “Are you alright?”

“Not sure.” He tries once more to get off the stone floor, but more pain runs through him, Cory letting out a whimper of pain in response. “Actually, I take that back. I’m not alright.”

“Hold still Cory, I’m coming.”

A faint shadow stands up in the darkness across from him, Cory thankful that his eyes are beginning to adjust to the absence of light. The shadow takes a step forward, but almost collapses, a small curse word echoing through the space. Cory tries to move, but his pain keeps him in the same useless position. The figure rights itself, once again standing straight up. Rather than walking, it keeps its left leg semi in the air and hops across the space to him.

Natalie drops to the ground in front of him, crawling over to rest against the frigid wall to his left. In the light, Cory observes Natalie’s face, seeing her eyes closed tight, her mouth slightly open, and ripples of pain running through her. Looking down at her knee, he notices he can see her bare skin, no evidence of the black metal that normally encases most of it.

“Natalie…”

“I don’t know. They must have taken it.” 

She rests her head against the wall, and in the faint red light Cory can see a small water droplet streaking across her cheek. Out of instinct, he lifts his arm to comfort her, but he’s stopped by a wave of pain that sends him reeling back.

And just like that, the pain in Natalie’s face is gone. Despite her knee screaming at her, Natalie moves to be kneeling in front of Cory, her weight centered equally on both.

“Cory. Cory, let me help you.”

His response comes out in the form of a gasp of pain and his opposite hand drifting away from the source. Natalie holds her hand above the spot, not touching it for fear of making it worse.

“I can’t do anything.” He says through gritted teeth. “No matter what I do. Every single movement makes it hurt worse.

He opens his eyes to see Natalie’s bright, brown, concerned eyes looking back at him and a dark figure standing directly behind her. “Natalie!”

Natalie’s eyes go wide, the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight up. She spins around, seeing the figure standing directly over her. She kicks her feet on the floor, moving to be next to Cory like she was before.

The figure blended into the darkness perfectly, completely encased in black. Wisps surround the air around it, giving it the appearance that it was floating and smoking. A large black hood covered its head, keeping them from seeing its face. The figure towered over them, almost a foot taller than Cory’s normal height.

Despite not being able to see its eyes, Cory could feel its gaze switching back and forth between them. He felt a hand touch his, Cory adjusting to be squeezing Natalie’s hand as well.

A cold shiver suddenly ran through Cory. He closed his eyes, feeling himself become mentally drawn forward towards the shadow. Flashes of red and pain running through his thoughts, remaining as he opened his eyes. He gritted his teeth, the involuntary forward motion of his body sending sparks of pain through his rib cage once more.

A flash of movement off to his left helped him regain his visual senses, the coldness of his hand where Natalie’s grip had been bringing him back to reality. Shaking his head, he looks up, seeing Natalie standing in front of him and the figure moving a few feet back.

Unable to speak, Cory simply watches as the figure begins to drift closer to them, and Natalie begins to wince and move her head sideways. Her fingers twitch, but slowly move to form solid fists.

The figure suddenly lunges towards them, Natalie responding instantly and punching the figure in its hooded face. A screech escapes the demon, it reeling backwards and grabbing its face. Natalie stood a little straighter, whatever feeling that was running through her head disappearing upon contact with the figure.

“Nat…” 

She turns around, looking at him right as the figure lunges forward with its configured hands outstretched. The hands wrap around Natalie’s neck, pulling her backwards towards the darkness as fast as light. Natalie reacts immediately, twisting the shadow’s hands towards the thumbs, forcing the grip to drop her. Natalie turns to face the demon, fighting against it.

Cory watches in fear, still in shock from the control the figure had on him. From his point of view, the figure is trying to reach him, only to be driven back and held off by Natalie. But as hard as she tries, there’s no denying the pain from her knee acting as a weakness in the struggle. 

Before either of them can realize, Natalie is encased with smoke, taking her out of sight. As fast as it came, the smoke disappears, revealing Natalie to be completely restrained by the figure. Dark tendrils force her arms behind her, similar ones wrapped around her knees and ankles, keeping her from moving. A wisp of smoke wraps around her neck and mouth, keeping her from making a sound. To top it all, the demon rests his hands on the sides of her head, lifting her off the ground.

Anger fills Cory, adrenaline helping to push back the pain as he stands up, using the wall as support. He faces Natalie and the Demon, holding his rib with his hand.

A loud noise grabs everyone’s attention. Turning his head, Cory sees the door on the side of the cell slide open, revealing an escape. He turns back, seeing Natalie struggle against the shadow to get the tendril off her face to speak.

“Cory…”

“Let her go.”

“Cory. Don’t.”

“Nat I’m going to get you free.”

“Go! Get out of here!”

“No, I’m not leaving you. We’re leaving together and nothing else.”

“It’s too late for me. You need to go.”

“No don’t talk like that. I’ll get you out.”

“Cory…”

“Let go of her.”

“Cory!”

Making direct eye contact with her, Cory watches as the demon’s hands move inwards, passing through Natalie and into her head. The brightness in her eyes instantly disappears, the equivalent of watching a light switch turn off a lamp. Her muscles go slack, all other indications of life vanishing in a flash.

Cory can do nothing but look into the cold empty eyes where his friend had been mere seconds before. All thoughts in his mind disappeared at once, wisps of smoke in the wind. There was no cell, no broken ribs, no demon, no cold, no darkness. There wasn’t even him. There was only her, and where she had just been breathing.

He took a step forward out of instinct, only then to realize the black tendril reaching out for him. He jerked back, almost falling to the floor if it hadn’t been for the wall. The creature followed him, the tendril becoming longer as it reached for him. Cory gathered himself up again, making a break for the door. He paused long enough to look back at his dead friend before the tendril lunged at him once more.

And with that he was gone, racing through the halls of the strange stone building. He made decisions blindly, having no idea how to get out. Whatever got him furthest away from the spirit.

He was halfway down another long hallway when the pain in his side caught up to him. He gasped for breath, falling sideways and losing his balance. His shoulder caught the hard wall, causing him to wince yet keep him on his feet. He pushed forward, staggering into boxes, constantly falling back and forth between the two walls on either side.

When he reached the end of the hallway, he turned the corner, only to be met with a view full of gun barrels.

“Freeze! Stay where you are!” One of the men in all black said.

Cory stopped. In doing so he lost all momentum, collapsing to the floor. The pain engulfed him completely, blocking out all other senses. He could faintly feel gloved hands on his arm and head, and barely could hear the sounds of someone talking into a radio about how they ‘found him’.

Eventually he was lifted off the ground, his arms draped around the shoulders of two blurry men, carrying him towards a doorway filled with red and blue lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading a sticking around this long. I know this is a style of story that I don't normally write, but the idea came to me and I just had to write it down.
> 
> I also know that some of the things I write are confusing and can be hard to follow, so please ask me any questions you have, no matter how dumb or stupid they sound.
> 
> Again, thank you so much for reading and keep smiling :)


	3. Chapter 3

“Where? Where are they?”

“Ma’am. Ma’am! You can’t be here.”

“The hell I can. Those are my editors - my  _ students _ \- I have every right to see them.”

The poor officer stepped back, knowing she didn’t stand a chance against the frantic Yearbook advisor.

Ms. Fen looked around frantically, trying to make her way through the circus of emergency lights and black swat suits. It wasn’t until her eyes fell on a gurney set up between two ambulances that she finally noticed him.

“Cory!” She shouted above the busy noise and the rain. “Oh my god you’re alive.”

The stressed advisor threw her arms around her photography editor, holding him while she breathed heavily, taking in deep breaths in order to turn her nerves down a notch. Her other editor was still missing, but she at least had one at the moment.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt? How bad is it? Are your parents on their way?”

But Cory didn’t answer, continuing to stare at Fen's feet, the only sign of consciousness coming from the slow up and down movement of his blanketed shoulders.

Three more figures appeared from around the ambulance. The boy and the girl looked like they had seen a ghost, the constant red and blue lights reflecting the fear off of their faces. The tallest one on the other hand had a neutral face of worry, mainly for his best friend who sat in shock before him.

Ms. Fen kneeled down, holding Cory’s hands in her own. “Cory. I’m so sorry this happened to you. There are no words to describe how horrible and guilty I feel about all of this. You shouldn’t have had to go through this. But I promise you’re going to be okay. You’re safe now. Nothing is going to happen to you anymore. And when they find Natalie and bring her out here, I’ll say this same thing again. You two are going to be okay.”

The rain fell around as the group of five stayed in silence. No words were spoken, no looks were shared. Just the simple motion of breathing and standing in the pouring rain.

“ _ She’s gone _ ,” he whispered, barely audible to Ms. Fen let alone those next to him.

“Don’t say that. They’re still in there, searching every nook and cranny for her. They’ll find her…”

“No they won’t.” Cory looked up, and Fen finally realized that his eyes were red from tears. “I saw her. I watched it happen. She’s gone.”

Megan gasped as quietly as she could while Ethan shifted his weight uncomfortably. Noah took a step forward, wanting to be with his friend but not knowing if he was in the right to do so.

“Cory…”

“She jumped in front of me. That…  _ thing _ … was trying to get to me but Natalie jumped in front of it. She fought it, trying to keep it away from me. It didn’t want her - wanting nothing to do with her - but she still…” The tears were beginning to stream again, but Cory was clearly in too much shock to care. He closed his eyes, gripping Fen’s hands tighter, gritting his teeth at the memory.

“It killed her, Fen. Took the life away from her right before me.”

Fen stood up reactively, pulling Cory into a hug as he cried into her shoulder. Everyone - Fen, Megan, Ethan, and Noah - all felt helpless at the situation at hand, each in different states of grief.

Noah turned his head away from his best friend, his gaze falling on the door where exhausted and defeated members of SWAT were emerging from. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that this wasn’t real. Something here isn’t right. Their fellow classmate was gone… 

So why didn’t it feel like it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated this one. Don't really know where I got the motivation to work on this one either, given that it's currently 1:30 am.
> 
> Sorry, this chapter is so short. There wasn't much to add to this one, but it was still necessary to include (basically to begin to introduce how Cory is going to react with this, as well as others).
> 
> As normal, for anyone who actually reads these - thank you so much for reading and keep one smiling. :)


End file.
